Bullet Journal Setup & Review

I found the bullet journal system from my_planner on her Instagram and YouTube. So I then went and searched it up on YouTube, and found the original video which explains how to use the system from the creator. He talks you through how to set up a bullet journalling system and what everything means. I loved the idea and wanted to try it out, but was hesitant because I currently don't have a very busy lifestyle as I am in the last few weeks of college and then I will have a year off to work part time and volunteer part time before I (hopefully) go to university.

So I decided I wanted to try the system out to see if it would work for me, busy or not. I looked on eBay for an A5 graph paper notebook and found this awesome notebook for £3.99! I went ahead and bought it, it took around a week to be delivered by 2nd class which isn't too bad considering it was free p&p. I re-searched the bullet journal setup videos on YouTube as well as the original and got started!

So I started the bullet journal on May 14th 2014, I really loved the set up and felt it would work out great for someone with a busier lifestyle (with young kids, in college/university, a busy job or self employed). You start it off with an index page which keeps all your sections with page numbers (so you can reference to and from different pages). It explains how to use it in the original video if you're unsure about how to set it up. I also keep a little 'pouch' stuck on the opposite page, with my to-do list on a project life card inside it - that way I can keep it safely in there without it falling out, and I can pull it out when I'm on other pages.

Here is a closer look at my key. It has several symbols with their meaning next to them. You will use these for your tasks on your daily and monthly pages (which I will show you next). They're really helpful so you don't feel overwhelmed with so many to do's, they might be little ideas, things to search, or something you love. It also makes the to do lists a little more interesting, especially if you have a whole page full of them! You can completely design your key to suit your needs, if you have kids you can use symbols to show their to do's, and so on. It's very easy to use and I felt it worked out well. You can use it in both the bullet journal, and a planner or Filofax if you have one and use it regularly.

So this is the next page after the index page (I would probably suggest to leave another page after the index in case you need more space in the future, but it's up to you) and you start off with the current month for two pages. On the one page you have the whole start to finish of the month with the days they fall on, and then any big tasks specifically due for that day (mine were mainly work and Samaritans as I am a volunteer). The next page is all the to dos for that month that need or want to be completed by the end of the month. You can use your key symbols for these to dos as well, so anything which is urgent can be marked so you don't forget. Once you come to the end of the month on your daily to dos, you will start another spread like this and add the page numbers of the new month onto your index (again, the original video will explain all of this in case you're unsure).

As you can see I didn't have that many to do's for each day, so I ended up repeating small tasks such as iron clothes or sort out wardrobe to create a bigger list. But because those weren't necessary to do's, I would ignore them and plan them for another time.. Which defeats the purpose of the bullet journal. I decided I probably would leave the journal for when life got busier, and I could make the most of it. It will probably start becoming more useful when I go to university, so I would love to hear if any uni students are using this system and how it's working out for you :)

So overall, I love the bullet journal system and would recommend it to anyone with a moderately busy to hectic lifestyle. I would love to see other peoples views and opinions on the bullet journalling system, whether you're thinking about it or have tried it, and how well it worked for you. I also love seeing setups so feel free to comment with your bullet journal setup! :)

Thanks for reading.